My dad passed away and my mum downgraded to HDB from condo, and now has 500K. Where should she invest this money just to be self-sufficient? Also, what kind of coverage she should be looking at?

Hi Anon, I am so sorry for your loss. I know nothing can fill the gap, but I can tell you this - He would want you and your mother to have a satisfactory life and so, you should definitely invest your money so that you have enough always.

You can go for REITs, other ETFs and bonds, but before you do that, I'd suggest you read up as much to understand what a Robo-advisor really does. Robo-advisory platforms assess your current financial position and recommend a portfolio strategy after reviewing your risk profile. These bionic advisors are still not very different from your ordinary financial advisors as both options will still have a management fee incurred for users. The difference lies with the amount, as Robo-advisors have lower management fees. And the best part is that they give you the most unbiased advice.

You can read here for a better understanding.

I work at kristal.AI, and my mojo is to help people make the right financial decisions. If you think I helped you, do give me "Thumbs up". If you think my response was biased let me know, I will work on it.

This really depends on a few factors:

1) Her current Age

2) Her current savings

3) Is the HDB fully paid for? and how many rooms are there in the HDB

4) Is she intending to find a job?

5) Whats her current health Status

Based on the information that you had provided, my thoughts are pretty similar to the rest in terms of the options: Hospitalisation Plan, CPF, Retirement Plans

1) Hospitalisation Plan - This really depends on the health status of your mum. If she does have some minor illness, one option is for her to apply for Aviva Shield Plan with Moratorium Underwriting (have to do this soon as Aviva is phasing this option out in 2019). With such a plan, most of the concerns on hospitalisation will be covered.

2) CPF - I concur with what Tat Tian suggested. This also depends on what her current age is. One suggestion is to top up the amount to meet FRS, if not, she can also opt to pledge her HDB flat to meet the FRS amount. This will enable her to receive monthly amounts from CPF Life.

3) Retirement - I assume that she is not a risk taker. Basically, there are a mix of options for her to consider which i will briefly share below:

a) Retirement Plan: A lump sum payment Today which will translate into monthly payout at a later stage which will supplement her retirement income. On top of which, some retirement plans, such as Manulife's RetireReady, grants additional payouts should she be unable to perform 2 out of 6 activities of daily living. This will supplement her Eldershield payouts.

b) Endowment Plan with Flexibility of withdrawals

c) Renting out one room in the HDB flat to supplement income

Having said so, you may wish to speak to a financial advisor that will be able to share with you more about retirement planning for your mom.

If you do agree with my above suggestions, you may always drop me a PM at https://www.facebook.com/brandan.chen or email me at [email protected]